ASA Adjudication on Fundraising Standards Board

Ad

A national press ad, for the Fundraising Standards Board (FSB), stated "Do you give to charities? LOOK FOR THE TICK Charities with the Fundraising Standards Board tick have committed to be honest, respectful and accountable in their fundraising ... So next time you support a charity, look for the tick so you can give with confidence”.

Issue

1. The complainants, who understood that the FSB charged a membership fee, challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that charities who were not members of the FSB were generally untrustworthy.

2. One complainant challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that charities who were members of the FSB were generally trustworthy in respects other than fundraising.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

FSB explained that they had taken advice from the CAP Copy Advice team before publication and they believed the ad had not implied the public should only trust charities that were FSB members. They said they believed strongly that the ad made clear that the scheme was only about the fundraising activity of member charities. They pointed out that the ad made clear that charities who belonged to the FSB had made the commitment to be "honest, respectful and accountable in their fundraising" and that the "tick" logo was used to inspire confidence, because member charities had committed to best practice. They said this commitment was to comply with the Fundraising Promise and the Institute of Fundraising Codes of Fundraising Practice and was backed up by an independent complaints procedure; they provided a copy of the literature sent to charities that explained their commitment. FSB further explained that their message was no different from other membership organisations and benefited the public by increasing their confidence in charities.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the FSB was a new self-regulatory body for charities and that the fee to join was based on a sliding scale, which depended on the member's yearly charitable income. We acknowledged that some small charities might consider that the yearly financial commitment was too great and that not being a FSB member might disadvantage them in future. However, we considered that the ad made clear that the FSB scheme related to fundraising only and merely encouraged people to look out for the FSB tick before donating. We concluded that the ad did not misleadingly imply that charities who were not members of the FSB were generally untrustworthy or that FSB members were generally trustworthy in respects other than fundraising.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action required.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)